mjd1001

As others have said, you are paying 'market rate' compared to what other players are getting around the league. Jake Sanderson: 8 years, $64.4m, $8.05m per year Owen Power: 7 years, $58.47, $8.35m per year Sanderson: 5th overall pick 2020, 21 years old, 1 NHL season played, 4 goals, 28 assists, 21:55 min per game on a 39 win team Power: 1st overall pick 2021, 20 years old, 1 full season played, 4 goals, 31 assists, 22:05 minutes per game on a 42 win team. The production/age/draft pedigree is very, VERY close, almost unreal how close they are. If anything, you might give Power the slight edge in these measurables, thus the contracts should be expected to be about the same, if anything with Power getting slightly more. I'd expect Moritz Seider to sign an extension soon with Detroit for about the same term/money.

Long term so I guess its ok. I would have done a bridge since you have so many others locked up long term...but this is ok.

Agree on the money going to a 30+ year old is kinda bad. They just might look at as the cost of business of staying playoff competitive the next 2-3 years. Once you are into the last couple years of the contract, they might be bad so it won't matter much.

I really don't like the amount. Yes you may not have had a choice, but the way the team is going to be competitive is if you don't pay too high for many players and if you can bring them in at a fair value or ever so slightly below.

This is what I am hoping to see change once the regular season starts: -Krebs got slightly better as the year went on, but there were many, MANY times goals were scored against the Sabres or big time chances were allowed when Krebs either was 1/2 step too slow getting back or he lost a battle on the boards. Hoping he is better this year. -Cozens. As good as he is, and a large part of how good he is has to do with how aggressive he is....he needs to show better decision making. I can't remember how many (it was a lot) goals were allowed last year when Cozens was on the ice, not due to him not giving effort, but due to him chasing the puck relentlessly, often times when another Sabre was closer to the puck, and putting himself out of position. Effort isn't the issue with Cozens, but hopefully one more year of experience will help him with his decision making for knowing when to NOT chase the puck full speed no matter where it is. -Peterka and Quinn. Honestly, by the end of the year I thought they already were much better than the beginning of the year, but when they started they were losing a lot of loose puck battles. If they can pick up where they left off at the end of last year (whenever Quinn gets back) that will be a good step. -Tuch is a great forechecker. I don't analyze the entire league but with how relentless he is on the forecheck I can't imagine a lot of players being better than him. His linemates just have to be aware of where he is in the Offensive zone so they can cover any opponents exit from the zone in case Tuch gets caught deep.

Agreed. Moss is playing well, but I don't think hes better than he was when he was here. Put him on this Bills team and I still don't want him starting. He is doing well in the situation he is in.

Bills seem to handle Miami, and for the most part, KC, better than the rest of the league. Jets, Jacksonville, and Cincy I don't have much confidence with them playing.

For now, the Bills are 4th in the conference, with 2 conference losses. 2nd in the Division (as you said) with a division loss. If we can't be guaranteed a SuperBowl, I would LIKE to have one year where they get the bye and home field advantage throughout, but they are already behind with that.

I don't think the effort was the problem. Not making excuses but factors include: 1.) they don't seem like the match up well vs Jax 2.) Maybe the Bills flying out 2 days ago and Jax being there for 2 weeks helped Jax 3.) Just too shorthanded on D with the injuries. I'm not seeing a lack of effort. I'm seeing a team making mistakes and overmatched in certain matchups.

I don't think of them as like any other team of the past. To me, this team, and Josh Allen, when they are "On", is better than anyone else. When they play their 'best' game, and the other team plays their 'best' game, I think the Bills come out ahead against anyone. The problem is, the Bill can't seem to string as many of their 'best' games together in a row, or when they are 'off', they can be really REALLY 'off'. So in the regular season, they have too many 'off' games where they might never get the bye and home field the entire playoffs. So when they get to the playoffs, they need to win 4 games in a row to win it all, but they can't string 4 games in a row of them being 'on' to do that.

Games like this, for now at least, are why I have a LOT more fun following the Sabres than the Bills. With the Bills, if they win big, well, they are supposed to. When they play a game like this, its just horrible to watch and then to listen to others/read forums/listen to talk radio for the next full week (and yes, to me those are parts of being a fan.) The curse of high expectations. With the Sabres, right now watching a young team get better is just so much more fun. I don't want it to be that way. I wish I could see things differently, but, I just can't. Maybe they can still pull this one out, we'll see.

I wish Dahlin would sign for 8 years for under 10m of course, but whatever he is going to get, het gets, just lock him up. Power, I STILL would be open to a bridge deal, providing Dahlin is locked up long term.

I'm not concerned yet. As others have said, lets see where things are after 10 games.

I'm feeling really good about the Bills right now, more than I thought I would. Sure, they could lose this week, and if they have a major injury again that can change, but after the Miami game, I don't think there is a team that they cannot beat. If, IF Buffalo plays their best game and any other team plays their best game, right now I think Buffalo wins those games against anyone else. Of course the issue like always is...how often does Buffalo play their best. Its like Josh Allen vs Mahomes. Take both of them playing their best game and I think Allen is just as good, maybe better...BUT the issue is Mahomes plays closer to his ceiling more often. After Buffalo, I think its San Francisco, then KC, then Philly, Baltimore, Dallas, and Miami as the teams I would be the most worried about giving the Bills problems in a matchup (in that order). Seattle, Cleveland, Detroit and even Jacksonville are 2 steps behind but they might still give the Bills trouble. A healthy Josh Allen just gives the bills at worst a 50-50 shot against any team (and likely more than that) on any given week.

If I'm not mistaken, the Arena in Buffalo is a year or two older. Of course in Toronto it gets more use, but still highlights places like Philly, Boston, Toronto....that have an Arena built about the same time as in Buffalo are getting or have already gotten huge renovations. In Toronto, it has already undergone some lesser renovations, but this is a big one. Scotiabank Arena announced on Thursday that it will be getting a multimillion-dollar face-lift. The staggering $350 million investment and multi-phase renovation — titled the Scotiabank Arena Venue Reimagination Project — will feature capital improvements to almost all areas within the venue. Upgrades will be brought to concourses, suites, premium clubs, retail spaces, food and beverage offerings, and state-of-the-art technological innovations will also be introduced. full article here: https://www.blogto.com/city/2023/10/scotiabank-arena-350-million-dollar-transformation/ Also in Calgary in the last few days.... Deal struck between Calgary and Alberta for new $800M arena for Calgary Flames A preliminary deal announced in April for a new $1.2-billion event centre and entertainment district near the city’s downtown, including a new rink for the Flames, has been finalized, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Thursday. The project plan includes plazas and gathering places, bars, restaurants and retail shops with the main event centre hosting the NHL team along with other sports, concerts and events. full article here: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/10/06/news/deal-calgary-alberta-800m-arena-calgary-flames

How one online betting site sees things: https://www.covers.com/nhl/team-point-totals-odds-bets I looked specifically at the division and the east. As far as where they see teams finishing with over/under points: Toronto 106.5, Boston 101.5, Florida 99.5, Tampa 93.5, Ottawa 92.5, Buffalo 92.5, Detroit 85.5, Montreal 70.5 So they have Buffalo tied for 5th/6th in the division with Ottawa. In the Metro division they see: Carolina 109.5, New Jersey 105.5, Rangers 103.5, Pittsburgh 97.5, Islanders 92.5, Washington 83.5, Philly 75.5, Columbus 72.5. So if the Oddsmakers have it correct, Toronto, Boston, Florida, Carolina, NJ, and the Rangers are in as division top 3 teams....Pittsburgh and Tampa get the wild cards. Ottawa, Buffalo, and the Islanders are then all tied for fighting for the 9th spot but out of the playoffs.

Just as in recent years Buffalo and Josh Allen seem to do very well against Miami, the opposite can be said about their performances against Jacksonville.

I like a large part of the next 8 months. I know we don't get this in Jan or Feb, but 40's early in the morning, 50's for daytime highs...light jacket weather...my absolute favorite! You just don't get that from June to August here, or ANYTIME of the year in many of the southern climates that so many other people who live there convince themself are better than up north.

This doesn't happen everywhere, but I'll share an interesting story of what I encountered when we were on vacation a few years ago. Small cute village, lots of shops everywhere. We get there on a Tuesday morning (I think, it was mid-week) to go to a cute little bakery. Its not that crowded. There are handicapped parking spots ( alot of them), another spot for 'our law enforcement partners', one for 'employee of the month' and then one for 'expectant mother parking'. Every single one of them was empty, and the first spot we found was a good 100 feet farther away. Sure, the walk wasn't that bad and sometimes I'll park farther away because I would rather have the long walk other than someone banging into the car, but I thought this was excessive.

Ads are absolutley out of hand online. Youtube. Most videos now, multiple ads. You load a video and just want to skip forward..doesn't matter, you missed that ad we are going to make you watch it. Websites on the computer. You load the site and wait for the ads to load. 3-4 seconds later 5-6 ads load...so now its ok to click on the link you want? No way. Just as you think its safe, you click on that link you want and an ad opens RIGHT where you click and you load the ad. Now desperate to close the ad, you look for the little tiny 'x' to close it on that pop up, and at the moment you click it it moves because another ad loads on the page of the ad, and another pop up now opens. Even on my phone. I find an article I want to read, and you wait for the 2-4 ads to load, and then scroll down. Same as above, new ads load as you are scrolling and it takes you to those pages. Or how about the article that loads where 1/3 of the page is taken by an ad...then about 10 seconds later more ads load...until LITERALLY 80% of the screen is taken up by ads and I'm trying to read the article on less than 1 inch of space on my phone for the actual article. I've said it before...but when I am hammered with ads the ONLY thing I remember about the ads is to remember the name of the company and make sure I do NOT support them. I guess most ad companies and execs only know how to make money with the strategy of 'all gas, no brakes', shove our ads in front of people so much that eventually they will give in and buy from us!

So basically, IF he hits his ceiling (a big 'IF'), the prototype modern NHL D-man who you want on your team that isn't a 'star' but a top 4 guy.

Speaking of Johnson, I still don't know exactly what type of player he is/could be. A lot of people have spoken in generalities...or restated his scouting profile from the draft. But... What are his strengths? Weaknesses? Is he a good skater/fast skater? Is he good positionally? Or does he need a lot of improvement there. Does he hit a lot, or is he a guy more concerned about positioning and will not make some hits to maintain positioning? Win more battles on the boards/for loose pucks? How is his first pass out of the zone. Is he a guy who's PROBABLY ceiling is closer to a 5goal, 20 assist guy or a 15 goal, 40 assist guy. After reading about him and reading the discussions about him, I really don't know his strengths and weaknesses, his ceiling, etc.

Or you could bring up Jimmy Vesey, who they had a chance to sign but didn't. (A guy who scores about 13 goals per 82 games). Or remember out of college how Casey Nelson was a hyped prospect? How about Will Butcher choosing the Devils (originally) over the Sabres and people being upset over that a few years ago? There have been others of course.... But, it is the exception, not the rule, that a guy that you drafted (or is a free agent) coming out of college after a good college career that is available to any team turns out to be a great player. The Sabres signed Johnson this year, he elected to stay here, lets hope he is one of the good ones.

I would have liked it if they had given up less, but again, its just preseason. I think you can tell more about a hockey team from preseason than you can about an NFL team, but that isn't saying much. 90% of what this team will be we won't know from preseason. In the NHL, sometime you get seasons where you can't even tell how good a team is once the regular season starts, it can take 20+ games. So, while your point should be brought up and how they are playing on the back end is something to take notice of (and certainly talk about), I'm not too worried yet...if they are at the bottom of the league in goals around in December, then we have a big issue.